TEDxPittsburg State University is planned for March 27 in the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts

TEDx speakers announced; ticket sales to begin soon

Organizers of Pittsburg State's first TEDx event, "Diversity in Our World," have chosen 10 diverse speakers out of a slate of many who auditioned.

TEDxPittsburgStateUniversitywill be held onMarch 27from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Miller Theatre inside the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts.Tickets for the event, limited to 100 audience members,will go on salenext week.

The speakers include:

Ruby Rios, a high school senior fromShawnee Mission, Kansas, who co-founded KCSTEMinists— a program that helps girls apply technology to entrepreneurial and global issues. In 2017 she was featured by Ink Magazine as one of Kansas City's "30 under 30"and traveledto Malawi, Africa, on a sponsorshipby the United Nations "Girl Up" campaign.

Greg Dagnan,once employed by Silver Dollar City on the Fire in the Hole roller coaster andnowChief of the Carthage Police Department. He's also served asexecutivedirector of anon-profit agencythat investigates child abuse and has been apatrol officer, a traffic officer, a DARE officer, an SRO, and a criminal investigator.

Kevin Bracker, a longtimefinance professor whose students recently won first at a regional competition. He's a competitor himself: he hascompleted numerous races rangingfrom 5K to 100 miles.

Mark Lehman, a local pastor,who with his wife, Sarah, hasgrown theirchurch from 30 attendees in 2000 toaveraging525 in 2017, and wrote a sabbatical policy eventually adopted by churches across Kansas.

Mitzi Peña, a senior at Pittsburg Statewho soon willgraduate with a bachelor'sdegree in Elementary Education.Originally from Mexico City, she has a passion for educating, inspiring, and advocating for social issuesandplans to start a scholarship program for immigrant students in low-income families.

Hank Cloninger and KolleenGladden,president andvicepresident of the Pittsburg Statestudent body for the 2016-2017 academic year,whohave been campus and communitychange-makers and leaders both separately and together.

Sandra Main, anadvocate for self-carewho is a licensed masters level psychologist and mother of four. She is passionate about helping people torealize their own power and potential.

Dr. MichaelSimmons,who has been in private practice in the Four States for more than 25 years and hasservedon several national healthcare committees, the President's Physician Advisory Coalition,andas medical director for several health insurance companies.

Harold Wallace III, the assistantdirector ofStudent Diversity Programs at Pittsburg State, who was a first-generation college studentfromLos Angeles, California.He navigatedhis way through college with very little help, and now serves asadvisorfor Black Student Association, Native American Student Association, and Hispanics ofTodayto helpstudents of color matriculate to and through college.

Ticketswill be available for $10each and the audience is limited to100inaccordanceto TEDx guidelines. Free watch parties will be set up aroundcampus usinglivestream for those who would like to watch but are unable to attend.

A total of 55 tickets will be available for students, faculty, and staff. Those tickets will be soldstart at 8:30a.m.onFeb.26inthePittsburg State TicketOfficein theWeedeGymnasium.Ticket buyers are limited to one ticket per person, and Pittsburg StateIDs arerequired.

A total of 25 tickets will be availablefor community members. Those tickets will be sold startingat 8:30a.m.onFeb. 27. Ticket buyers are limited to twoticketsper person.

An additional 20 tickets have been reserved for use as complimentary tickets for speakers and their families.

Watch parties will be hostedin Ballroom Aand Sunflower Room in theOvermanStudent Center so that people can watchvialivestreams. The rooms will open at 5:30p.m.; theevent willstart at 6:30 p.m.No tickets are needed for the watch parties.

About TEDx, x = independently organized eventIn the spirit of ideas worth spreading,TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for theTEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or fewer) delivered by today's leading thinkers and doers. Many of these talks are given at TED's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and made available, free, on TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Monica Lewinsky, Philippe Starck, NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

TED's open and free initiatives for spreading ideas include TED.com, where new TED Talk videos are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from thousands of volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed; the annual million-dollar TED Prize, which funds exceptional individuals with a "wish," or idea, to create change in the world; TEDx, which provides licenses to thousands of individuals and groups who host local, self-organized TED-style events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, which selects innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.